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Discussion The St: What Would You Change/Revise?

If you could re-think the Sequel Trilogy, using existing know material (the movies and rumors for IX), what would your Sequel Trilogy have been?

The emphasis in this thread must be what you would write, a genuine attempt at it, hindsight is 20:20, tweaking the story and story elements to present what you consider a "better" Sequel Trilogy.

Personally, I enjoy writing and ideas, like a group think, and seeing how similar story elements and details can be presented differently by different people. Mental stimulus.

{Disclaimer: No attacking people please. Keep it civil and engage more in the fun of sharing ideas}

Here is my rough idea.

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EPISODE VII -- The Force Awakens

ACT I
We meet Luke, who has his Jedi Academy up and running. We see him teaching many students, including Ben Solo. We meet FN-2187 and his platoon. General Hux and Phasma are the leadership group of the First Order. They're all on some military exercise on some planet. Things go wrong in the mission, perhaps the local militia blows up a Stormtrooper transport, and the First Order retaliates. With orders from Phasma to wipe them out. We see how ruthless and fearsome Phasma is, a true hands-on warrior. FN-2187 has a morality crisis and refuses to fire his gun. We see the same kind of scene of Phasma scolding him. He meets Poe, who is a captured pilot, being transported to a holding cell. Poe names him Finn. Finn and him hatch an escape (but no firing on fellow Stormtroopers). They just flee in a TIE and crash-land on Jakku. We see the same scenes of Hux and Phasma trying to figure out what went wrong. And them having to report to the Supreme Leader via hologram (but we don't see him clearly). We see scenes of Han and Leia as a separated couple. Han is off with Chewie scavenging, Leia is about to go to a senate meeting. They only have a few moments, they talk via "phone". Things aren't great between them, they talk of Ben etc. Back to Finn on Jakku, him and Poe hide the TIE, Poe says they have to part ways, best way both of them remain undetected. Finn wanders Jakku alone, finds his way to the township, meets all kinds of strange characters. We explore this theme, Finn a dehumanized Stormtrooper learning what it's like to be human for the first time. Emotions, desires, fears, frienship, betrayal. Finn trying to blend in on Jakku, remain unnoticed. He befriends Lor San Tekka, who takes him under his wing teaching him about the bigger picture going on in the galaxy. Intercut with Luke scenes. Han scenes. Leia and the senate, with political exposition made to explain who the First Order are.

ACT II
We start seeing Ben having bad dreams, visitations, which is Snoke cottoning on to Ben Solo's existence, and calling him telepathically, corrupting his mind. We see Ben and Luke have an argument about learning force powers, Luke withholding as he senses something wrong in Ben. Some night scene where Luke walks in on Ben engaging in dark side training, confrontation between them. Finn meets a teen girl (Rey). He has compassion for her situation, basically a slave, like he was. There's an emotional connect between them. Some scenes of him helping her, and her helping him. Cut to scenes of Poe, Leia, the Resistance gaining allies, Poe wanting to take action, Leia preaching patience. We see more Phasma/Hux scenes.

ACT III
Political tension rises between the New Republic and the First Order over something like passage rights, resources on neutral planets, etc. It's revealed for the first time by Snoke to Ben that he is the grandson of Darth Vader, learns Luke/Leia kept it from him. Some other students are enamored with him more now. Ben is torn apart, anger, betrayal, also sense of ego. Snoke convinces him to join the dark side with him and increase his powers. As the relations between the First Order and the New Republic/Resistance escalates into war, and tensions between Ben and his mother rising, Luke and Leia concern, we see Ben and his five or so friends (KoR) under the influence of Snoke, start a bloody battle with the other students, and Luke comes in late and tries to salvage the situation, to calm Ben down. Episode VII ends with two scenes jumping back and forth -- a battle in space between the FO and the resistance, Poe in his X-Wing, etc, interspersed with Ben and the KoR burning Luke's Jedi Academy down, with Luke fighting back some, trying to rescue other students. The cliff-hanger is Ben walking in slow motion toward the camera, with his five or so friends flanking him from behind, dark thunderous music, them walking thru the night, fire burning behind them, and a last shot of Snoke's hand on his throne rising to his mouth (just see him from the chin down), and a little smile creep across his lips.

EPISODE VIII -- Power of Darkness

Episode VIII picks up where TFA kind of got to, a few years later. Rey is older now, Finn has blended into the Jakku community and is friends with Lor San Tekka. Who tells him how Luke Skywalker has fled to an unknown destination and the FO with Kylo are trying to track him down. And unfortunately, Lor San Tekka, an old friend of Luke's has information of his whereabouts, a map on a disc in his possession. First Order with Ben Solo now as Kylo Ren in full regale. We see Poe and BB-8 race back to Jakku to warn Finn the FO are on their way to Jakku. But he's late arriving. He's behind a dune watching as Kylo and Phasma land on Jakku looking for Lor San Tekka and the map. Kylo ordering the villagers to divulge information. Kylo kills Lor San Tekka. Finn is in Lor San Tekka's hut and hearing all the commotion, slaughter, he grabs the disc and flees. Poe sees him and catches up with him. They put the disc in BB-8 and told to flee across the desert to find Rey, as the FO learn of Poe and Finn fleeing together the other way. Much of the latter half of TFA would be the middle of Episode VIII, with Rey and Finn racing off to join the resistance with Poe. We have the Falcon scene leaving Jakku, and Han and Chewie latching on to the Falcon. All the same beats as TFA now. No Starkiller Base tho, just the big battle from the previous episode has escalated into a galactic war. Rey, Finn and Han meet Maz, the lightsaber calling her. Battle on Takodana. Poe in X-Wing shooting FO troops and ships on the ground of Takodana. Kylo capturing Rey and mind-probing her. Han and Leia meet. Parents worried about Ben. Kylo killing Han. Chewie wounds Kylo. Kylo and Rey fighting, except Kylo beats Finn easily and has Rey on toast but the earth opens up and the Falcon whisks her away. The movie ends with Rey walking up the steps and meeting Luke.

EPISODE IX -- The Last Jedi (for want of a better title)

Episode IX then would've been what we saw in TLJ. And fleshing out the story better, such that Rey is getting taught by Luke, he isn't avoiding her. Meanwhile, the FO is marching on, trampling over the galaxy. We have the same Kylo-Rey force skyping going on, much to Luke's chagrin. Kylo and Rey kill Snoke and the guards. All there. But no Canto Bight. The same dilemma of trying to evacuate the resistance base at D'Qar. FO tracks their cruiser down. Leia gets killed in that battle, or does what Holdo did (there's no Holdo). Luke feels her death and deeply saddened/angered, he leaves Ahch-To on his submerged X-Wing for Crait. Crait battle is an epic ground battle in the vein of Rogue One. Luke has John Wick-like action scenes, wiping out hordes of Stormtroopers. And Kylo has John-Wick like action scenes, wiping out hordes of Resistance fighters. Heavy casualties on both sides. Kylo and Luke eventually face off. It's an even battle, with Luke having to flee to help save Rey, Finn, and some others hold up in that fortified cave. Luke and the others flee in separate ships, as the war rages on on Crait. Luke perhaps flies back to Ahch-To for some important reason. And we get the final shot of him staring into the twin suns sunset. Have to work on the ending more, does Luke die or just stare off into the sunset in despair at the loss of Han/Leia and nephew Ben turned fully dark.

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The ending is a FO victory, but questions left open, hope in Rey, etc, continuing the Saga into another trilogy Episodes 10-12.

I feel like the cardinal sin of this trilogy is trying to recreate OT dynamics too much. If I were remaking it, I'd try to undo that as much as possible. For instance, the First Order would be the weaker of the two military forces. There would be no "resistance" as the regular Republican military would be expected to handle things. If they insisted on having a superweapon at all, the plot would be about a New Republic facility that the Imperial insurgents try to hijack. There would likely be no Hosnian cataclysm. Certainly not one that could destroy the entire decision-making and defensive capacity of government.

Luke being gone is fine but I'd forget this foolishness about "Knights of Ren" or having secret maps or whatever other silliness there was. Snoke would not exist. Preferably, neither would Kylo Ren, though again, the failure of his training and the collapse of the Jedi is fine. I would keep Poe Dameron dead while making Rey and Finn more equal partners in the saga. Probably by giving the latter some skills consummate to his previous role as a stormtrooper rather than his current role as a latter day Jar Jar Binks. I'd eliminate pointless scenes like the casino in TLJ and the Rathtar/Han Solo thing in TFA. I frankly didn't think much of Maz Kinata and her space castle either, so I'd try to cut that out, too.

It would’ve been better if the main female character was slightly older and began the story already a trained Jedi. I also like the concept of the Jedi killer just being a random padawan that betrayed Luke and went dark. As great of a character as Kylo Ren is he’s basically Darth Vader 2.0, I don’t like that.

Wow you really beat me to this topic. I was legit planning on making this today or tomorrow.

I like your ideas. Pretty much you shove 7 and 8 down one slot. You make 7 its own thing that we didn't see with Kylo going dark. I think that's how I would have done it to. Show us how Kylo goes dark in the beginning of the series. That is one thing I really wanted the most. And something we haven't seen really in the saga, someone turning dark to start the trilogy. They were already dark or on their way to becoming dark.

I also would have started with keeping everyone from the OT and kind of see it come apart and have them go their separate ways as opposed to them already being separated. That way we would have gotten the fan service and head cannon out of the way from the get go and could have focused moving on to the next generation on a much better pace.

I do feel like 8 and its title should have been 9. Really does feel like the end of this trilogy. Then again, if 7 went that way though, they really wouldn't have an attractive antagonist to promote, seeing Kylo started off as good. But they could have promoted his temptation to going dark. Then we also wouldn't have the OT characters going down one by one as Leia would have been around for after 9.

Then again 9 could have some awesomeness and closure on its own if Luke does indeed come back and get redeemed.

As fans, who love to speculate, we always think about the "what ifs" and "what could have been." At the end of the day though it won't do any good and we will wind up making ourselves hate parts of Star Wars that we shouldn't or just give ourselves headaches trying to construct what is our way, despite how fun it could be. At the end of the day I'm glad we did get a ST, even if it has been flawed on a few parts so far.

Red Letter Media had some good ideas way back when TFA came out. I listened to this discussion today, and it sounded like a great premise. I'm probably not doing their idea justice, but basically we start with the New Republic building a superweapon to wipe out the fledgling First Order. Ben Solo is against this, and when the NR uses it to destroy a First Order planet, it gives him a motivation to join them.

So that's an example of how we could really begin things in a new way, showing how democracies can sometimes become dangerous entities just like dictatorships. It makes the story grey in an interesting way and forces us to question whether a preemptive strike on an "evil" group is moral.

In my own version, I'd just be happy starting the story with Ben Solo and seeing exactly what his family and personal problems were. This would contrast Anakin in a cool way because he was sort of orphaned by leaving his mother so early. In contrast, Ben's story could show us how well-meaning families fail, or the tragedy of having a sociopathic child. I'm a psychology major, and families have such a hard time with children like this.

Red Letter Media had some good ideas way back when TFA came out. I listened to this discussion today, and it sounded like a great premise. I'm probably not doing their idea justice, but basically we start with the New Republic building a superweapon to wipe out the fledgling First Order. Ben Solo is against this, and when the NR uses it to destroy a First Order planet, it gives him a motivation to join them.

So that's an example of how we could really begin things in a new way, showing how democracies can sometimes become dangerous entities just like dictatorships. It makes the story grey in an interesting way and forces us to question whether a preemptive strike on an "evil" group is moral.

In my own version, I'd just be happy starting the story with Ben Solo and seeing exactly what his family and personal problems were. This would contrast Anakin in a cool way because he was sort of orphaned by leaving his mother so early. In contrast, Ben's story could show us how well-meaning families fail, or the tragedy of having a sociopathic child. I'm a psychology major, and families have such a hard time with children like this.

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Those are truly great ideas -- your own version mixed in with RLM's idea. Spinning things around where the "good" side does bad things and those joining the "bad" side are motivated by good. Include in all that too, the thing I've been harping on for ages, how VII should've focused on Finn as a dehumanized Stormtrooper learning to be human for the first time. He can still meet Rey in Act II of the first movie, with Rey being the force awakening.

So using the philosophy I laid out in my first post as a framework, I'd suggest:

Episode VII: Revanchist Imperials launch a surprise assault to take control of Starkiller Base, a New Republic super-weapon. General Han Solo is tasked with defusing the situation, with Poe Dameron as a soldier under his command. Disillusioned by the contrast between this violence and his former peacetime duties on an Imperial world, Stormtrooper Finn defects mid-mission and helps dislodge the Imperials. He is joined by Rey, a civilian pilot caught in the crossfire. The Republic succeeds, but not before the weapon is used to seriously damage--but not destroy--a planet. Despite this being the act of a radical faction, it succeeds in pushing the New Republic and Imperial Remnant back into war.

If I made the sequel trilogy I would settle it at least 300 years after the events of the original trilogy. The reason is simple: it is the only way to avoid the problem of belittling the accomplishments of the original trilogy. The republic went on for about 1000 generations. It's pretty sad to think that what Luke established in ROTJ was about to last for less than 30 years.

Also, Finn is at least 25, and he was intended to be Stormtrooper since he was born. So the First Order has been alive and healthy since few years after the end of the OT.

Before TLJ came out, I did feel that they should have started the sequel trilogy in a different place with the New Republic thriving but faced with different threats due to a lack of totalitarian control, with young Sith and other threats cropping up because there's no all-powerful Emperor left for them to fear, etc. And our OT heroes would still have their happy ending. Their kid wouldn't go down a dark path, Luke wouldn't have failed, etc.

However, now having seen TLJ, I'm really loving this idea of our OT heroes and the Republic failing. Sure, it initially stings from a fan point of view, especially when we don't know how it will all pan out, but I feel like by the end of Ep 9, we will have a trilogy, just like PT, that both informs and is thematically dependant on what came before to create a rich saga about the cyclical nature of war, victory and failure, teachers and students, hope in the face of despair, etc. TLJ put a lot of it into perspective.

However, now having seen TLJ, I'm really loving this idea of our OT heroes and the Republic failing. Sure, it initially stings from a fan point of view, especially when we don't know how it will all pan out, but I feel like by the end of Ep 9, we will have a trilogy, just like PT, that both informs and is thematically dependant on what came before to create a rich saga about the cyclical nature of war, victory and failure, teachers and students, hope in the face of despair, etc. TLJ put a lot of it into perspective.

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I'm fine with the "cyclical nature of war". My problem is that it was somehow established that in the Star Wars universe you must think in terms of ages and not in terms of decades. So if the achievements of Luke and the others were supposed to be epic in any way, I'd expect them to have long lasting consequences. On the contrary, the peace in the galaxy didn't last for a single lifetime.

It would have been much better IMO if they just settled everything far in the future. It is not written anywhere that if you want to do a sequel you necessarily need to show all the old characters.

I'm fine with the "cyclical nature of war". My problem is that it was somehow established that in the Star Wars universe you must think in terms of ages and not in terms of decades. So if the achievements of Luke and the others were supposed to be epic in any way, I'd expect them to have long lasting consequences. On the contrary, the peace in the galaxy didn't last for a single lifetime.

It would have been much better IMO if they just settled everything far in the future. It is not written anywhere that if you want to do a sequel you necessarily need to show all the old characters.

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It might be written somewhere in a financial planning tome for film sequels. Setting it in the future without the OT characters would have been much riskier. I think they were smart. They lured longtime moviegoers with the OT trio as supporting characters while simultaneously introducing appealing new characters to keep the coffers filled for generations to come. Ka-ching!

It might be written somewhere in a financial planning tome for film sequels. Setting it in the future without the OT characters would have been much riskier. I think they were smart. They lured longtime moviegoers with the OT trio as supporting characters while simultaneously introducing appealing new characters to keep the coffers filled for generations to come. Ka-ching!

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Yes, I'm not saying that what they did doesn't make sense on the point of view of the marketing strategy. I'm just saying that in my opinion they should have taken that risk.

It might be written somewhere in a financial planning tome for film sequels. Setting it in the future without the OT characters would have been much riskier. I think they were smart. They lured longtime moviegoers with the OT trio as supporting characters while simultaneously introducing appealing new characters to keep the coffers filled for generations to come. Ka-ching!

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Yes, I'm not saying that what they did doesn't make sense on the point of view of the marketing strategy. I'm just saying that in my opinion they should have taken that risk.

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Why should they? Disney did not buy Lucasfilm for the love of Star Wars. Disney is not making these films for the love of Star Wars. As D.J. said, "It's just business." They intended to make money. Since they have succeeded so spectacularly in that aim, it's also difficult to claim that they have failed from an artistic point of view either. That's always going to be in the eye of the beholder anyway. Enough people love Disney Star Wars (thus far). Not everybody, of course, but enough.

Why should they? Disney did not buy Lucasfilm for the love of Star Wars. Disney is not making these films for the love of Star Wars. As D.J. said, "It's just business." They intended to make money. Since they have succeeded so spectacularly in that aim, it's also difficult to claim that they have failed from an artistic point of view either. That's always going to be in the eye of the beholder anyway. Enough people love Disney Star Wars (thus far). Not everybody, of course, but enough.

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I didn't explain myself. I think that the idea of abandoning the OT characters was more intriguing. However, from the point of view of a corporation that wants to make the biggest possible amount of money, they probably made the best choice.

I’m fine with the cyclical nature of war as well; I might have included an outside threat (doesn’t have to be the Vong but something similar) putting the fledgling New Republic in crisis around 20 years after ROTJ, long enough that there would be an entire generation of young adults who have no real clue what the Empire was like and are able to be sold easily on the “law and order brings security” aspect. I would give Han and Leia more than one child, with neither of them getting on board with the enemy. I don’t know that I would have Luke having an academy at all. It seems that in between ROTJ and the timeline of TFA would be a better time for him to go searching for the ancient texts and the first Jedi Temple; he emerged from ROTJ with this first real Jedi accomplishment (throwing down his saber) but not in a position to train anyone. The only type of Jedi training he understood was what Obi-Wan and Yoda gave him. I could see him taking on an individual student at a time, maybe an earlier version of Broom Boy, starting ten years post ROTJ, but not an Academy. Of course what Kylo described in TLJ seemed pretty informal anyway; Luke had 13 students or so that he trained, not a formal Academy.

I would keep the storyline of Rey needing to find Luke, but I would spend the first movie or so having her meet several obstacles getting to Luke—not having the map, having to fight to get off planet, running into some First Order troops, etc., as opposed to Luke not wanting to be found. The second and third movies would have Luke in the Obi-Wan and Yoda role with Rey being a wide-eyed idealist with unrealistic ideas of what the Jedi are supposed to do. I would keep Luke’s discoveries that the light side of the Force is not limited to one religion.

With Finn, I could see an entire storyline for him revolving around his defecting, joining the Resistance and leading a stormtrooper rebellion. And I would flesh out Phasma more, make her more of a TCW seasons 1-2 Ventress type character (albeit without the Force).

I’m fine with the cyclical nature of war as well; I might have included an outside threat (doesn’t have to be the Vong but something similar) putting the fledgling New Republic in crisis around 20 years after ROTJ, long enough that there would be an entire generation of young adults who have no real clue what the Empire was like and are able to be sold easily on the “law and order brings security” aspect. I would give Han and Leia more than one child, with neither of them getting on board with the enemy. I don’t know that I would have Luke having an academy at all. It seems that in between ROTJ and the timeline of TFA would be a better time for him to go searching for the ancient texts and the first Jedi Temple; he emerged from ROTJ with this first real Jedi accomplishment (throwing down his saber) but not in a position to train anyone. The only type of Jedi training he understood was what Obi-Wan and Yoda gave him. I could see him taking on an individual student at a time, maybe an earlier version of Broom Boy, starting ten years post ROTJ, but not an Academy. Of course what Kylo described in TLJ seemed pretty informal anyway; Luke had 13 students or so that he trained, not a formal Academy.

I would keep the storyline of Rey needing to find Luke, but I would spend the first movie or so having her meet several obstacles getting to Luke—not having the map, having to fight to get off planet, running into some First Order troops, etc., as opposed to Luke not wanting to be found. The second and third movies would have Luke in the Obi-Wan and Yoda role with Rey being a wide-eyed idealist with unrealistic ideas of what the Jedi are supposed to do. I would keep Luke’s discoveries that the light side of the Force is not limited to one religion.

With Finn, I could see an entire storyline for him revolving around his defecting, joining the Resistance and leading a stormtrooper rebellion. And I would flesh out Phasma more, make her more of a TCW seasons 1-2 Ventress type character (albeit without the Force).

-Make Supreme Leader Snoke a Thrawn-like Admiral/Politician (bearded if possible) and former member of the Empire, but NOT a Force-Sensitive alien
-Make Kylo Ren just innherently evil and greedy, already corrupted way before the rise of the 1st Order
-Cast a 40-45 yo actor for Hux
-Remove the Falcon being stolen and hidden in Jakku; (Han never lost the ship); Han was in Jakku looking for Lor San Tekka (Han decided to help find Luke as well) and saves Finn and Rey. Han wants to find Luke but doesn't want to confront his evil son.
-Make Coruscant the capital of the New Republic and annihilate it with the Starkiller Base attack (the actual final day of the Republic)
-Change the motivation of Luke from "the Jedi have to end" to "perhaps Kylo would be a wise leader-I won't kill my own nephew"
-Make Kylo Ren and Rey face and kill the Guards and then Ren kills helpess non-force sensitive Snoke to take over, Rey escapes
-Make Luke travel (with his X-Wing) to Crait and then dies in combat facing Kylo Ren, jaded after annihilating the Walkers with the Force

It would’ve been better if the main female character was slightly older and began the story already a trained Jedi. I also like the concept of the Jedi killer just being a random padawan that betrayed Luke and went dark. As great of a character as Kylo Ren is he’s basically Darth Vader 2.0, I don’t like that.

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Agreed. Starting with Padawan Rey would spare us another movie of inconsistent training timelines.

I thought of a version where Finn is the mechanic living on a desert planet, and Padawan Rey crashes her ship there after learning some horrible truth about the super secret First Order, and Finn helping her get in contact with Luke/the Republic. Early scene with the big three reunited before Luke goes away.

Have the movie be an actual adventure where they visit different exotic planets, maybe crashing on a planet where Han is running podraces. Basically just a Rey/Finn buddy movie with the big three as minor supporting roles.

Hi everyone, been lurking for several months (drawn by excitement for TLJ) but this is my first post. Apologies if this has been done before but too many threads to wade through.

While it is clear no Star Wars film will ever make everyone happy, I think many will agree that the ST are somewhat flawed. Clearly Disney want to take things in a different direction and importantly ensure their investment means the shared universe will have room to expand in any direction they want (and not be restricted to Skywalkers).

However, I think it would have been possible to make both TFA and TLJ better films with some relatively straightforward changes. You need to do both films to maintain some plot and character backbone.

In doing this the rules I set myself were that A) I could not stray far from the original story premise in each film and B) Could not just invent a totally different film. So I have looked at this as though I was a script doctor brought in by LFL (and it should be acknowledged that it is far harder to write a completely new story/script than it is to suggest improvements with the benefit of hindsight).

So here are my suggestions. What do you think and what would you do if not the same as I suggest below...

STAR WARS EPISODE VII - THE FORCE AWAKENS

(Changed crawl...)
Luke Skywalker has vanished. At the edge of the
galaxy the sinister FIRST ORDER has risen from the
ashes of the Empire and will not rest until Skywalker,
the last Jedi, has been destroyed.

While the NEW REPUBLIC remains unconcerned
by the potential threat, General Leia Organa
secretly leads a brave RESISTANCE deep inside
the First Order territory.

Desperate to find her brother Luke, Leia has sent
her most daring pilot on a secret mission to Jakku,
where an old ally has discovered a clue to Luke's
whereabouts...

Changes made to script/story:
1. Not just a map but series of clues to find Luke making parts of the film more of a quest/race for clues (changing the film to be less obviously based on ANH).
2. In early scenes on Jakku Rey is shown as already having some control over the Force.
3. The Falcon is not in the junkyard on Jakku, Han and Chewie (still working with Resistance and trying to find Luke with Poe) in the Falcon rescue BB8 (and therefore Rey and Finn) by tracking BB8's homing beacon. BB8 makes them go look for Poe and they find him before coming under attack by TIE fighters. Poe is badly injured and unconscious so not yet busting the "big deal" Finn or revealing who he really is (so no smuggler ship or gangs scene).
4. Leia arguing with the New Republic Senate on Coruscant about the threat posed by the First Order and recommending remilitarisation but losing the vote and being called a war monger and out of date (one Senator mentions the Empire not being a threat for 30yrs since the last Imperial fleet was destroyed over Jakku). Leia heads off to rejoin the small force loyal to herself who are undertaking covert ops in First Order space.
5. Hux's speech (but not firing) scene is now when they begin charging the weapon by sucking energy out of star (uses the energy of one star to destroy another causing it to go nova killing all planets in solar system).
6. The light sabre Maz has is the green one not the one lost on Bespin. Luke left it with Maz as he "no longer needed/wanted it". It still reaches out to Rey but only shows the things it would have witnessed inc Knights of Ren etc
7. When FO arrive and capture Rey it is Phasma who battles with Finn but is forced to retreat when Resistance arrive in force!
8. No reveal of real nature of starkiller base until last act. From orbit starkiller looks like a normal planet. There are vast orbital docks surrounding Starkiller where the First Order are completing construction of a huge fleet.
9. Poe leads an X Wing attack as a diversion to enable the Falcon, Han, Chewie and Finn to infiltrate Starkiller to free Rey (no hyperspace piercing of shield).
10. Kylo Ren removes his mask (for the first time) and is revealed as Ben Solo when he meets Han Solo on Starkiller base! Han only says he wants to confront the monster who took his son! Han is still killed by Kylo.
11. During the attack two huge gun doors start to open on the planet surface and the Starkiller weapon is fired destroying the New Republic capital Coruscant (by killing the star in Coruscant system not planet).
12. Starkiller is not destroyed (it was only a single use weapon anyway) but the planet will die now the sun/star has been sucked dry.
13. The firing of the weapon is what splits the crust separating Kylo and Rey.
14. The huge FO fleet sets begins leaving orbit.
15. Leia embraces Chewie first then Rey!
16. Luke still only appears in the final scene with Rey but he speaks one line with great sadness "I have been expecting you!

STAR WARS EPISODE VIII - THE LAST JEDI

(Changed crawl...)
Coruscant the capital of the NEW REPUBLIC
has been destroyed. Supreme Leader Snoke
has unleashed the merciless legions of the
FIRST ORDER to seize control of the galaxy.

Only General Leia Organa's forces stand
against the rising tyranny, certain that
Jedi Master Luke Skywalker will return
and restore a spark of hope to the fight.

The decimated New Republic forces try to
regroup, but their rendezvous has been
exposed. As the First Order fleet arrives
the brave heroes mount a desperate escape...

Changes made to script/story:
1. The opening scene is a battle between what remains of the New Republic fleet and the new First Order fleet (not simply an escape by Resistance). Snoke has ordered the capture of Leia (as a way to get to Luke) rather than the destruction of the cruiser.
2. Hux leads part of the FO fleet in pursuit of Leia's resistance cruiser (neither Snoke or the Supremacy are there). All communication signals are being blocked and the hyper drive has been sabotaged on the cruiser - so there is a traitor onboard! (Perhaps some people suspect Finn?)
3. When the TIE fighters attack Leia does not freeze in space but instead uses the Force to hold back the imploding Windows on the bridge long enough for many of the crew to escape before she is overcome by the effort and blown backwards through the doors which seal against the vacuum. Leia is still seriously injured.
4. Poe (not Holdo) takes command in Leia's absence and when examining the star charts identifies Crait as being nearby (with Canto Bight on the way where there is a Galactic Communication Node and a Resistance sleeper cell) so they set course for Crait.
5. Finn and Rose offer to go to nearby Canto Bight. Poe (against advice of some who are suspicious of Finn) agrees and tells them to find the Resistance agent (DJ) to get a signal sent to remaining New Republic forces by breaking into comms station.
6. During the training of Rey (which lasts for longer) Luke warns her about the pull of the dark side and how Snoke will call to her and manipulate her through others and that she must resist "you are the strongest force user I have ever seen, but your skills are too raw, untrained and unfocused. You are vulnerable to the dark side!"
7. On Canto Bight Finn and Rose are more competent, they hide their ship and find DJ but are captured by Phasma and storm troopers (who are lying in wait) and are taken back to Hux's flagship where Rose is revealed as the traitor/FO spy!
8. Poe positions the resistance cruiser between the FO fleet and Crait to shield the smaller ships escaping down to the planet.
9. Sensing the danger her friends face Rey leaves Luke (against his advice "believe me I have done what you are doing, this will not go way you expect!") with Chewie and heads for Crait.
10. Leia uses the Force to bolster the shield against the FO ship's lasers before Leia (not Holdo) pilots the cruiser and crashes it into Hux's ship sacrificing herself to protect the Resistence. Just before she dies she communes with Luke who feels her die finally forcing him into action!
11. In the chaos of the dying FO ship, Finn and DJ manage to escape (the sneaking about in FO uniforms being then) and capture Rose taking her to Crait (Finn still fights Phasma, BB8 and DJ operate the AT ST).
12. After initially escaping on Crait and taking a ship to head back to the FO fleet Rose redeems herself by deciding instead to sacrifice herself (by crashing into the siege cannon) to save Finn.
13. When Luke appears on Crait to confront Kylo his immense power is shown when he first crushes and topples several of the AT AT walkers!
14. Luke doesn't die when using the Force to appear on Crait but we do see him exhausted and even close to death through the effort (he will die in next film).
15. Snoke's ship the Supremacy arrives now!
16. Having helped evacuate the remaining Resistance on the Falcon, Rey then goes to the Supremacy via pod.
17. Rey is tortured by Snoke but then Kylo joins with her and they kill Snoke and the praetorian guards. The penultimate scene of the film is Kylo asking Rey to join him but we do not see her final response!
18. The last scene of the film is Luke raising his X wing out of the water and then leaving the planet (out of exile to join the resistance).